Conventionally, a fuel feed apparatus includes a fuel pump that press-feeds fuel from a fuel tank into a reservoir tank. Fuel in the reservoir tank is maintained at predetermined pressure, and the fuel is sprayed into an internal combustion engine through an injector.
According to JP-A-7-293397, the fuel feed apparatus controls the fuel pump in accordance with pressure in the reservoir tank, thereby regulating pressure in the reservoir tank to be less than upper limit pressure. In this structure of the fuel feed apparatus, a passage, through which fuel returns from the reservoir tank into the fuel tank, is not provided. This structure constructs a return-less system.
However, in this structure of JP '397, when electricity supply to the fuel pump is terminated for stopping fuel injection through the injector, the fuel pump cannot immediately stop due to inertia. Accordingly, in this condition, pressure of fuel in the reservoir tank may exceed target pressure. In this return-less system, when pressure in the reservoir tank becomes excessively high, the excessive pressure in the reservoir tank is maintained as long as the injection port of the injector is not communicated. Accordingly, when fuel injection is restarted after terminating previous fuel injection, the amount of fuel injected through the injector is hardly controlled.